


Orochi

by TheGreatCatsby



Series: You're Hopeless [2]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 09:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3442841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nishiki is the problem. Nishiki is what's stopping Kaneki from protecting those he loves. They can't go on like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orochi

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

His mind twists and somersaults and ties itself into knots, and the conclusion he reaches is that he is not the problem. He can't be the problem. He's trying to get rid of the problem. 

Nishiki is the problem. Nishiki is trying to stop him from protecting everyone. From being strong. He banishes Nishiki's words from his head. Next, he will banish Nishiki. And then he will be free to continue protecting those he cares about. 

*

“You smell like Kaneki,” Tsukiyama says when he visits the coffee shop. 

“He's not here,” Nishiki says, wiping down a table that he's wiped at least two times already in the past ten minutes just to look busy. “You smell like shit. Are you gonna buy coffee or leave?” 

“I simply wished to chat.” 

“Not to me, surely,” Nishiki says. “I have two words for you: fuck you.” 

“Now,” Tsukiyama croons, “I know we started off on the wrong leg--”

“It's foot, you idiot,” Nishiki snaps, “and I have nothing else to say to a bastard like you.” 

“You wound me,” Tsukiyama says, pressing a hand to his heart. “How is Kimi, by the way?” 

Nishiki whirls around, snapping his washing rag. “I swear, if you don't leave I will kick your ass across the city and leave you for the doves. Understand?” 

“Bien,” Tsukiyama says. “I understand things are not going well.” And then he turns and walks out the door, because he's smarter than he looks. 

The one good thing about Kaneki no longer working at Anteiku is that Tsukiyama is around much less. That he even smelled Kaneki on Nishiki is disturbing. Is it the still-healing wound? Is it something about skin contact? Nishiki doesn't have an above-average sense of smell like some ghouls. He can't tell.

He moves on to cleaning the rest of the tables. There's no other customers, so it gives him room to think. He thinks about his latest experiment in the lab, how the report is due soon, how he might need to put in extra hours there, which means less at Anteiku. How he caught a glimpse of Kimi the other day in the cafeteria and for once was thankful that he had no reason to be there. He thinks about the night he told Kimi goodbye, for her own safety, and that she should move on. How he didn't (still doesn't) want her to suffer because of him. And how the investigators would make her suffer if they found out. 

She has a life, he repeats to himself. She has a life and you can't ruin it. 

The door opens and Nishiki says, “Come in. How can I...” and then he turns and sees who's walked in and the words “help you” come out half-hearted. He straightens. 

Kaneki moves towards him and stops a few feet away. “Come with me,” he says. 

“Oh, you're here to see me?” Nishiki raises an eyebrow. “I thought you'd come to see Touka, who's been worrying about you, or the manager. Or even Tsukiyama, who can still smell you here for some reason.” 

“Stop messing around,” Kaneki says. He cracks a finger. It's an odd habit and right now it makes Nishiki's hair stand on end. 

“If you haven't noticed,” Nishiki says, “we're a bit short staffed. I'm the one stuck here today and I can't just--” 

Kaneki moves and his fist makes contact with Nishiki's face before he can finish his sentence. His head rings, he crashes to the ground, and before he can gain his wits to defend himself, to get over the shock, something hits him hard and everything goes dark. 

When he wakes he's chained to a wall in a dark room and there are two shadowy figures standing above him. He recognizes their robes as his vision focuses again. 

Aogiri. 

*

They want to hurt him, and they do. Ayato wants information, and a way to take out his constant anger. Maybe he sees Nishiki as a proxy for Touka in some messed up way. Everyone else is just doing his bidding. Kaneki comes to visit as well, but out of all of them, he's the only one who doesn't hurt him. 

Nishiki sees that as a loophole to be exploited. 

“I can't believe you're taking orders from a fourteen-year-old shithead,” he says. 

Kaneki just glares at him. 

“What are you doing, anyway?” Nishiki asks. “Are you angry because I told you the truth?”

“You want me to stop protecting the people I love,” Kaneki says, softly. “And I can't let that happen.” He turns to walk away. 

“You say you're trying to protect everyone,” Nishiki says, “but you're just hurting them.”

Kaneki pauses. 

“What about Touka?” Nishiki goes on. “What about Nagachika? He doesn't have a clue where you are or what you're doing, doesn't even know if you're safe, and you won't say a thing--” 

It happens in a few seconds, before Nishiki can even think. And even if he saw what was coming, it's not like he can move. Kaneki's kagune rip through the air and stab Nishiki through the chest. He coughs up blood, and his vision starts to go. 

When it returns, Kaneki's face is hovering inches from his own. “You must be starving,” he says. 

“You idiot,” Nishiki manages. “I'm not your enemy. But this...is wrong.” 

“I need to be strong,” Kaneki says. “And you won't stop me.” 

Then he disappears, and Nishiki listens to his own blood as it taps against the floor. 

*

“Feed him,” Ayato says. Kaneki grabs a can of coffee, which isn't what Ayato means, and goes to Nishiki. 

Nishiki lifts his head when Kaneki nears. Kaneki thrusts the coffee can into his hands, nearly spilling it on him. Nishiki takes a cautious sip and chokes on it. Ayato, annoyed at this like he's annoyed at everything, leaves the room to do something more entertaining. 

“Ah,” Kaneki says, taking the can away. Nishiki swallows convulsively. “You can't even stomach coffee anymore.” 

“Ayato isn't even nice to you,” Nishiki rasps. “No one here is.” 

“Nice is not what I need,” Kaneki says. 

“Does Touka know about this?” Nishiki asks. That earns him a slap. “Come on, Kaneki. Are you the sort of person who won't hear things he doesn't want to hear?” 

Kaneki goes for another slap, but Nishiki grabs his wrist before he can make contact. He's surprisingly strong and Kaneki's eyes widen in shock. 

“I'm damn stubborn, you know,” Nishiki tells him, squeezing his wrist hard enough that it starts to hurt. “Listen to me. Stop being an idiot and just listen.” There's something a little desperate in his voice. 

“If I listen to you, they'll die,” Kaneki says. He hates being held, helpless. He's not, but Nishiki's hand on his wrist is making his heart beat a little too fast. He will break Nishiki's arm if he has to. 

“That's ridiculous,” Nishiki says. “You're smart, Kaneki. You know that what you're saying isn't logical. And not everything is. But you have to admit it. It's because of what happened to you that you're not thinking clearly. You have to--” 

“Shut up!” Kaneki yanks his hand away, there's a crack and a moan from Nishiki, but Kaneki can't hear anything else. He covers his ears with his hands and closes his eyes, because if he doesn't he'll kill Nishiki. He can feel his kagune trying to burst through his back. And maybe he should let it happen, because Nishiki keeps saying that he's wrong, that he's hurting more than helping and that can't be true because that's not what he wants, he can't be doing that, he has to protect, to be strong, to--

A slight weight rests on his shoulder. Kaneki's thoughts grind to a halt and he opens his eyes to see Nishiki leaning his head against Kaneki's arm. His hair obscures his face. It reminds Kaneki of the times when Hide would casually lean against him while they were sitting on the grass in the park, or watching a film, or how they'd bump into each other because they were walking so close. 

He can't move. 

Nishiki glances at his face. Murmurs, “Your eye.”

“What?” 

“You're losing it. Control.” 

He should kill Nishiki. This isn't what he needs. He needs to fight. He needs strength. He wants to stay here and lean against Nishiki and pretend he's Hide but that's not what he needs, it's not. 

The sound of footsteps makes him jerk away and get to his feet. Nishiki shifts so that he's leaning against the wall. 

Kaneki can't stand it. 

*

Days pass, and Nishiki isn't a problem as long as he's locked away. 

Kaneki goes to see him, because Ayato gets annoyed checking on him. Presumably because every time he does, Nishiki taunts him about his age and talks about Touka. 

This time, Kaneki pulls Nishiki's hair back to expose his neck, make it harder for him to talk. Nishiki grins and slurs, “This can't go on, Kaneki.” 

Kaneki slams his head against the wall and Nishiki laughs. “Just end it,” he says. “If I'm such a bother.” 

Kaneki's fingers clench around his hair. 

“You can't,” Nishiki says. He gives Kaneki a strained smile. “You're still too human.” 

Kaneki slams Nishiki's head against the wall again. 

That's when Ayato comes in and says, “This piece of human-loving shit won't give us anything on the manager at Anteiku. I think if we want him to open up, we need to give him a little push. You said he has a human girlfriend?” 

Nishiki closes his eyes. “Ahhhh,” he sighs “that was a bad move.” 

“Well?” Ayato demands. 

Kaneki hesitates. 

“She's a human,” Ayato says in disgust. “What's your problem?” 

“Let me try one more time,” Kaneki says. “Before we involve her. If we do, the CCG will be all over us.” 

Ayato scoffs, mutters, “whatever. You better get something.” Then he leaves. 

“Too human,” Nishiki says. 

“Shut up,” Kaneki snaps. 

“No,” Nishiki says, opening his eyes. “I don't think I will.” And suddenly, he surges forward, so unexpectedly that Kaneki gets knocked back. He jumps to his feet, kagune at the ready. He stabs, but Nishiki dodges, and Kaneki hits one of his chains instead. It breaks and Nishiki grins. “Thanks for that.” 

With a snarl, Kaneki stabs again, and again Nishiki dodges. There's a crack, and Nishiki's other arm is free. His wrist is bent strangely. 

“You know how I get about Kimi,” he says. 

Kaneki lunges at him, knocking him to the ground. 

There's a red stain spreading on Nishiki's front, blood tapping against the floor at the steady rate. Instead of trying to push Kaneki off, Nishiki wraps his arms around him and holds tight as they roll along the floor. 

Kaneki tries to pull away as they come to a stop, Nishiki pressed against the floor, but he can't. Nishiki has the audacity to try to hold him closer. Like he's hugging him. . 

“What are you doing?” Kaneki shrieks. 

“You need this,” Nishiki says. “And so does everyone else. They don't want your strength. They just want you to be there.” 

Nishiki pulls back, just a little. And Kaneki tries to pull away again, but he can't. He can't even stab Nishiki without risking stabbing himself. He tries, kagune navigating the small space between them. He manages to slice through Nishiki's skin on the left side of his face. Nishiki winces, but doesn't pull back even as blood coats his skin. 

“You have a problem,” Nishiki says, “because of what happened to you. You won't admit it. And because of that, you keep hurting people. Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe you're too far gone. But still, I can see who you were, sometimes.” His lips brush against Kaneki's. 

As with the first time Nishiki showed this kind of affection, something in Kaneki's brain freezes, and then starts working in overdrive. This must be Nishiki's way of trying to win a fight he can't win. Maybe he's right. Maybe he's wrong. A kiss isn't strong, but it is, because Nishiki is freezing him with a kiss. He has to fight. He has to kill. Once he's killed everyone, he will be done. This can't be happening. 

He kisses Nishiki deeper. Because what if...? 

It's so human. So human. He hasn't been human in so long. His existence has been cold, utilitarian, he only touches to kill, or eat, or hurt. To protect, but he's forgotten something like this and Nishiki has walked straight into the fire to give it to him. To remind him. 

To throw him off course? 

Or to save him? 

He'd said once, “Don't make me a killer.” 

Nishiki pulls away this time. “Your choice,” he says. 

Kaneki can't speak. 

Nishiki says, “I'm sorry.” 

Pain rips through Kaneki's left shoulder as Nishiki's teeth sink into his skin and rip. Blood soaks his clothes, and for a moment he catches a glimpse of Nishiki, eyes black, blood running down his chin, blood staining almost every inch of him, making him look like...a monster. 

Then a powerful kick to his chest sends him flying and for a moment, he's weightless. His back slams into something hard, he hears bones crack, and this time it's his own blood tapping against the floor. 

And Nishiki is gone. 

*

“Those bastards at Anteiku have run,” Ayato says a few weeks later. “Cowards.” 

Kaneki walks past the place where Anteiku used to be, late at night when no one else is on the streets. The building is empty, lights off, signs declaring that the property is for sale. Was this his fault? Did they run because they feared him? 

Something brushes against his arm. He turns to see a hooded figure standing next to him, with a mask like a snake's. The figure tilts its head. 

Then it speaks. “You won't find them here,” it says in Nishiki's voice. “And if you try to hurt them, I will kill you.” 

“Why are you here?” Kaneki asks. 

“I knew you'd come back,” Nishiki says. “That doesn't matter. What matters is why. Why did you come back?” His voice is cold. 

“I don't know,” Kaneki admits. 

“Tell me when you do,” Nishiki says, and then he disappears into the night. 

“Because I wanted to protect them and instead I pushed them away,” Kaneki says to the empty street. 

It makes sense, just as much sense as everything else he's done, and it scares him. Because for so long, he thought he'd been right. And now his mind is telling him that maybe, just maybe, he's been wrong.


End file.
